Grounded by grand world-building, a superb supporting cast, and the always-electric Jennifer Lawrence, “Catching Fire” is a powerfully acted and fantastically imagined glimpse into a frightening future.

Since its publication 28 years ago, “Ender’s Game” has received acclaim for author Orson Scott Card’s innovative imagination of space and complicated condemnation of violence. The novel is as action-packed as it is cerebral, and in his movie adaptation, director Gavin Hood proves his ability.

Though she occasionally leans on clichéd emotional crutches, the unique temporal landscape and surprising twists of “The Lowland” mark it as a signature Lahiri book, albeit a darker and less redemptive tale than those explored in her previous works.

In the follow-up to his 2009 novel “Tinkers,” Harding returns to the same location, the Massachusetts town of Enon; the same family, two generations later; and the same theme, death and the relationships that can transcend it.

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania—Dusty red was the blur of a young girl’s headscarf as she darted through the bumpy streets of the inner island, her stick-thin legs flying under a faded orange skirt, her silhouette a sunset complementing the Zanzibari winter air.

I’ve come to realize that I thrive on order; any number of piercings and tie-dyed shirts cannot mask my neurotic inflexibility. I’ve taken to stocking up on toilet paper here, always certain that we’re about to run out. I hang newly clean clothes on the line far before I’ve run out – what if it rains and they take two days to dry rather than one?